Seminar to show house cleaners greener options

Brazilian workers often clean five to six houses a day, and many suffer from skin and eye irritations, respiratory problems, allergies and migraines resulting from exposure to cleaning products containing toxic chemicals.

Brazilian workers often clean five to six houses a day, and many suffer from skin and eye irritations, respiratory problems, allergies and migraines resulting from exposure to cleaning products containing toxic chemicals.

A cooperative of Brazilian house cleaners that use only natural cleaning products is offering workshops around Boston and MetroWest.

The workshops teach people how to make cleaning products out of water, vinegar, vegetable soap, borax and essential oils. They will also cover health risks associated with commercial products containing ammonia, chlorine, sulfuric acid and other toxic chemicals.

It's a necessary training, said Heloisa Galvao, president of the Brazilian Women's Group, which co-founded the cooperative Vida Verde, or Green Life.

"We've heard so many horror stories about how the chemicals affect the health of many Brazilian house cleaners," said Galvao. "The chemicals also affect the health of the clients they serve and the environment, but the cleaners are the ones that are badly affected."

The natural cleaning products used by the cooperative are available for sale, said Galvao. The co-op's four cleaning products were recently tested by the Toxic Use Reduction Institute's Surface Solutions Laboratory at UMass-Lowell. They were found to perform at the same level as other all-purpose cleaners on the market, said Galvao.

The workshops are funded through a $15,000-grant by the Toxic Use Reduction Institute. Of the 10 seminars funded, five have already been held, one of them at the Framingham branch of the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers.

Co-op members are willing to hold workshops at churches, schools or at people's homes, said Galvao.

For more information, call 617-787-0557 or write to helensinzker@verdeamarelo.org.